Last month, surveying technology manufacturer and provider Stonex launched their latest 3D SLAM-based scanning solution, the X70GO. A hybrid mobile mapping solution, the X70GO combines mobile scanning with a stationary mode to ensure the highest resolution for the best possible surveying capabilities. On their website, the Milan-based company describes the scanner as “ a real-time 3D model reconstruction device which integrates an inertial navigation module, high performance computer, and storage system.”
The X70GO is equipped with a 12 MP visible-light camera for texture information along with a visual camera to “guarantee” a strong real-time preview for users. In addition to the scanner itself, users also get two pieces of bundled software with the GOapp and GOpost. The GOapp is the scanner’s dedicated mobile app with which users can visualize real-time results and preview the images, among other applications. GOpost, meanwhile, is for post-processing back at the office where users have the option to do things like colorize point clouds and add control points for georeferencing.
On the website for the scanner, Stonex highlights a handful of features in particular, starting with the X-Whizz mode. This is the piece that merges mobile and stationary techniques, allowing for large areas to be scanned in short amounts of time with higher resolution. They say users can mount the scanner on a monopod and “stand still in key areas for a few seconds,” to complete these scans. In addition to the X-Whizz mode, they also highlight the ability to receive real-time results, overall time-savings, automatic control point measurement, and high-performance computation.
This is yet another example of the fact that mobile mapping techniques are gaining steam in the surveying industry in recent years, a trend that came further into focus during Geo Week 2024. As noted in the linked article, this certainly is not new technology, and even SLAM algorithms have been around for nearly 20 years at this point. However, these algorithms are improving and the hardware is becoming more accessible, leading to something of a boom, with the X70GO being the latest example. There are, of course, still projects for which a traditional TLS is still far and away the best option for surveyors, but as these tools become more accurate – and this method of combining techniques from Stonex will only accelerate that mission – their uses will grow, and in turn so will its share of the surveying marketplace.
To learn more about the X70GO, watch Stonex’s video below.
